"The Softness Of Your Smile”

"The Softness Of Your Smile”
©David A. Ziser

I just love it when I can create a very nice portrait in the simplest of surrounds.  That was the case here.  I was teaching a class at Texas School last week and the first church we had scheduled on our agenda was a small Baptist church not far from the hotel.  The sanctuary offered some cool composition elements to work with and we captured some terrific images.

When I entered the lobby of the church I was immediately intrigued by the simple, clean surrounds of the building.  As I was exploring those surrounds I noticed this hallway which I thought would give me a very pleasing space for a bridal portrait.

What I was seeing was the white wall, to the right of my subject, creating an interior frame with the wall you see in the foreground.  I’m thinking that the space would be a good way for me to frame up my subject. I decided to light my bride with my Z-Ray flash light.  It worked perfectly giving me that George Hurrell Hollywood lighting on her face –  small cone of light illuminating the subject’s face with it’s gradual fall off down the dress.  That, plus the little “kicker light” supplied by the light coming in the far door down that hallway also helped to sculpt the bride’s beautiful features.

The warm lighting on that pale yellow back wall added to the soft feeling I see in this image. The image bonus was the repeating splash of color contributed by the touch of yellow flowers in the background to the right.  All these elements, together with the bride’s very nice smile all combined for a very pleasing portrait of our bride.

Camera specs: Canon 5D Mark III fitted with Tamron 28-300mm VC lens at 109mm, F5.6 @ 1/50 second (handheld), ISO 1600.  Enjoy!  -David